Just two weeks after his thrilling win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the number 2 Audi R18 TDI, German driver André Lotterer will take to the notorious Nurburgring-Nordschleife for the equally arduous Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race. Lotterer will pilot one of two Lexus LFAs that will feature in this weekend’s race, marking the fourth consecutive year that the Japanese supercar is competing in the event.

Lotterer, who has successfully driven for Toyota and Lexus in the Japanese Formula Nippon and Super GT championships, will team up with Juichi Wakisaka and Takayuki Kinoshita in the number 119 car. The race should be very exciting as the second LFA, car number 111, will be piloted by top drivers Akira Iida and Hiroaki Ishiura, as well as junior Kazuya Ohshima.

Car number 111 actually came fifth overall and first in its class in the previous VLN race at the Nurburgring and Lexus, together with Gazoo Racing, will be keen to repeat such success at the upcoming 24 hour race. The Lexus LFA sits in the SP8 class designed for near-standard cars with naturally aspirated engines above 4.0-liters of displacement.

The body and chassis of the cars are almost completely stock meaning they at a significant weight disadvantage to many of the other fully-fledged race cars that will be competing. In fact, the prescribed minimum weight of the car is 3,200 pounds.

Andre Lotterer

Nevertheless, Lexus is looking to take a class victory as well as a top-10 overall position in the race.

You can catch a video filmed from an onboard camera mounted inside the number 111 Lexus LFA as it stormed the Nurburgring during the last VLN race by clicking here. Behind the wheel was Hiroaki Ishiura who managed an average speed of 100 mph despite all the traffic and completed a lap of the Nurburgring, including the extra length of the shortened GP-track, in 8 minutes and 34.416 seconds.

The Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race kicks off on June 25. Be sure to catch our full recap following the thrilling race but in the meantime check out our Gazoo Racing preview post by clicking here.